A/N: HI! Sorry this is so late- I've been busy with doing things and stuff and what not, and I had a terrible case of writer's block. As far as updates go, i WILL be following my every other day thing better, as I've got the next few chpters done. Please read and review, your responces make me feel awesome. Thanks guys!


Kendall tried to replay the day's events, as he prepared for a dull weekend. He had hugged his sister early in the morning, met up with Jo before the first bell rang and then let the girl copy from off of his trigonometry test, eaten a grilled cheese for lunch, and then made an unenthusiastic dash for the door, three periods later.

"Going to work?" Asked Jo, as she followed her friend through the front of the school building, and out to the buses, 2:30 on that Friday afternoon.

"New guy," He explained, simply.

He wondered briefly if the new guy had made it through his first few days at the store, then shrugged it off, realizing it didn't matter, as a cashier wasn't difficult to replace.

Jo nodded, then hissed under her breath. Jo had worked alongside her friend in the market for about four days before she was let go. During the first few days, she'd been left on her own, and surprisingly, it hadn't been the most difficult part of the experience. Gustavo waddled through the back door, then lay a long, meaty arm along her conveyer belt, towards the end of the second day,

"You're still alive!" He exclaimed, letting some woman's groceries roll along the black belt, then hit against his forearm. Jo nodded, nervously. He bit into the white of his lower lip, and tilted his grin,

"You're on shelf duty, then." He decided. Jo felt her heart re-inflate as her friends, Carlos and Kendall, entered the shop through the same back door. The boys, after working their since their freshman year, generally worked the register. They tried not to laugh as they watched the pretty girl lift heavy boxes over her head, drop cans and trip, fall and pout and huff.

"Gustavo," Kendall tried, realizing his friend had had enough, "Why don't Jo and I switch tasks? She's great behind the counter, anyway." Gustavo ignored the teen, and walked out for the rest of the day. Two days later, he called Jo into his office and told her to get out of his sight, as she and Kendall had been trading jobs without his consent.

"I just cringed, I swear." Jo said, half jokingly, to her friend that afternoon. She hugged her text books tight into her chest, and stepped towards her bus,

"Bye, Kendall," She called. Kendall waved, and then turned to find himself at eye level with James Diamond, hardly a foot separating the two.

"-Hi," James blurt, caught entirely off guard. Kendall laughed, James's discomfort overwhelmingly obvious. His laugh was a hybrid of offense and indifference.

"Hey," Kendall replied, dryly. In the corner of his eye, he saw his sister, hand in hand with one of her debate-club friends. The pair skipped past the afternoon crowd, sharing a broad smile.

"Katie!" Kendall waved, looking past the pretty boy. James turned abruptly, as to follow Kendall's gaze, startled to see the kid's sister approaching. He'd tried to stop her at least a dozen times during the course of the day- The chase was tiring, though it certainly did stimulate his desire. He had her cornered, now- she'd have to stop avoiding him. Katie released her friends hand, and let her back pack bob against her side as she pushed past the throng of hurried students. James licked his lips, unconsciously, then let a thick hand sooth the stray hairs on his head. Kendall watched the boy stand before him, disinterestedly. He only knew James from sight, along with second hand stories and rumors. Kendall had been positive that the two had never been formally introduced.

James led the pack of Palm Woods stoners, and had actually been the one to hand off his blunt to Logan. The two had been inseparable from the moment their paths crossed, and Kendall immediately decided that the two weren't worth his energy, and went his separate ways.

"James is throwing a party, tonight…" As would begin each of Logan's sentences, after he began eating lunch with James and his crew under the old tree in the parking lot, that was stained repeatedly with the misshapen prints of a cigarette butt, and colorless graffiti tags. "… You should think about it," He would end, cooly, leaving the sentence to linger in Kendall's mind, as it was more a suggestion than an offer. The blonde had never even considered pursing his friend's proposal, as he knew how easy it would be for him to capitulate, to fall into the alluring abyss of marijuana and unprotected sex.

It wasn't that his Grandparents wouldn't let him attend; the only restrictions they had put on the kids, had revolved around television use, as his Grandfather had no other means of entertainment, and often would sit in his reclining chair for days at a time, settled on the same TV station, entirely unaware of the programming, though apeciative of the back ground noise. Kendall and Katie didn't mind, though; television was one of the last tools they used to occupy their time.

"Hey, Katie." James smiled, revealing an impressive row of artificially whitened teeth. Katie's stomach lurched, as she settled against her brother's side, obviously not expecting to find the boy she'd been avoiding the entire day standing parallel to the blonde. Katie remained emotionless, feeling the bruises that stained into her flesh thump repeatedly, as if they had a heart beat. Kendall looked to the boy, who stood a few inches higher than him self, then back to the girl, who was smaller and obviously anxious.

"You two know each other?" Kendall asked, sensing the shared tension. James waited for the freshman to reply, uncharacteristically skittish.

"N-No," Katie lied, involuntarily throwing a hand onto her side and rubbing at the red fabric, to settle the throbbing wounds she remembered to exist. She wanted to forget the other night had happened. Wasn't that how it worked? What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, sort of thing? She thought that after what they'd done, he'd be too embarrassed, ashamed... proud, to approach her again… She knew she certainly felt that way, as far as humiliation went. While James had made her feel beautiful, she had been fully aware of the fact that she'd been taken advantage of, while too unstable, intoxicated to create her own decisions. She understood that what had happened the other night could never re-enter her mind...

The biggest, most mortifying aspect of their night together, had been the fact that Kendall Knight, who had unwillingly been assigned the role of Katie's mother, father, brother, breadwinner and best friend, would fall to pieces if he ever found out that his entire life's work, instilling the correct values into his sister, good judgement and morals, had been decimated within the length of 36 hours. Her stomach churned as she tried to picture her brother's face, upon discovering that she'd been with the boy who ruined his closest friend, smoked weed and welcome the boy in- in between her long, 14 year old legs, too intoxicated to tell him other wise. She could have cried right then and there.

"Oh," Said Kendall, somewhat intrigued. He didn't think much of the fact that James knew his sister's name. Katie was beautiful, Kendall could admit, even as her gay, older brother. He knew his sister well enough to avoid worrying too intensely, as thinking about her following in his old friend's footsteps seemed ridiculous and purposelessly stressful. Still, though, James Diamond radiated a negative energy, that agitated Kendall, even if just at the back of his mind.

"His locker's right next to mine, that's how I know him," Katie resumed, watching James as his mouth opened. She understood that the boy wasn't brilliant. She could most certainly imagine him saying something along the lines of: "Of course you know me! Remember last night in my bed? We had sex and smoked weed! Good time..."

"Oh," Kendall said, again, his nerves a bit more settled. The fact that the boy made his sister uneasy gave him an undeniable boost of reassurance, as he imagined she also sensed the idiotic vibe he let off. "Are you coming straight home, or do you have plans?" He asked the girl. She looked to James, startled to see a look of genuine adoration and patience.

"I was going to stay after for Algebra tutoring... with Mr. White…" She half lied. The teacher had asked her to drop by after classes a week or two ago, as she seemed to do poorly on all the homework assignments that revolved around the slope intercept. While she did need the math help, she knew that she couldn't avoid James any longer, and resolved that it would be best to stay and talk.

"I'll come pick you up, later then." Kendall decided, leaning in to kiss his sister on the cheek. He turned again, weaving in and out of the moving buses, until he had entirely disappeared. Katie watched until his frame became a memory, and then released a long kept heave. James followed her as she walked back towards the school building.

"Hi Katie," He said, breathlessly, as the pair stood alone in the empty lobby. Katie kept quiet, until she approached the outside of a long, closed off stair well. James pushed the door open, and let the girl go in first, before letting himself in and jumping when the door smashed into the frame, the thud echoing for a few moments after. James looked around, taking in the familiarity of the stairwell.

"Ah… don't smoke weed in here," He advised, "Miss. Katcher uses this route to get from her class on the 5th floor to the second. Once she caught me with my pants off, and a lit joint." Katie tried not to laugh. She couldn't determine whether he was telling this story for comedic effect, or if he actually believed this to be good advice. As James finished admiring the stairwell, he let his back lean against the paint stained walls as his arms crossed, and a smug grin ran up the side of his face.

"Hey," He said, smoothly. Katie slouched against the wall, and hugged her self, tight, in obvious anxiety.

"H-Hi," She forced.

"How'd you know about this place?" He asked, still somewhat caught up in the nostalgia.

"Kendall showed it to me. No one ever uses the stair well, and it's nice to temporarily escape the three thousand or so student populace." James nodded, confident that he hadn't recognized the majority of the words in that sentence.

"Yeah, that's cool." He agreed, stupidly. Katie wanted to roll her eyes.

"So," the handsome boy contented, throwing his hair, unintentionally dramatic. "I've been thinking about some things…" That's a first, She said, immediately giving her self a mental slap. She had been so enamored with this boy the night before; now all she wanted was for him to disappear, forever.

"I think I'm considering making you my girlfriend," He smiled. Her eyes became wide. Was that the appropriate way to ask someone? No high school boy had ever shown interest in her before… was that the proper way to come off? 'I'm considering making you my girlfriend?' Didn't she have any say in this?

"James…" She struggled, rubbing a bruise that lay neatly beneath her sleeve, "I don't know if it's such a good idea for us to be talking…"

"You're right," He said, as he walked towards her. Everything they said, each sound that they'd created had echoed, as the hall had been long and empty and closed off. She heard everything louder, and a thousand times again; Each breath she took, each step he made, each time her heart would bash into her chest…

And then James put his lips on hers, softly. She felt her self pulling him forward, using her hands to grab his shoulders, gently dragging him into her chest. He wrapped his arms around her back, holding Katie tight as his mouth moved on hers. He pulled back, tenderly, flashing a smile so sweet, she felt her face drown in the depth of her blush.

"I-"

"No talking," He ordered, as he leaned in again, with no further intention than to hold the girl against him, and kiss her, kindly.

"Wait," She said, abruptly, as she dug into her pants pocket, then pulled out her phone.

"Who are you texting?" James asked, suspiciously, as he watched the girl's fingers fly over the miniature keyboard,

"I'm telling Kendall that I've found another way to get home." She stabbed at the send button, and forced the phone back into her pants pocket, eager to resume her kiss. James tilted his head, and leaned in again, his lips soft and quiet against hers. He doesn't need to know... He'll never know. Katie decided.


Kendall came home, to find new groceries at the kitchen table, and his Grandfather fast asleep in his reclining chair,

"Grandma?" He called, staring at the bags, incredulously.

"They're replacing you, Kendall," The elderly woman said as she met her grandson, who had been standing in the frame of the kitchen door. Kendall pursed his lips, irritated, instantly

"But... You went to the store yesterday, didn't you?" He asked, curious as to why she had another load of groceries.

"Yes, but you forgot to bring in my dried fruits from the car last night and they all went bad.." She accused, though Kendall was positive it would take a tremendous amount of effort to make dried fruits worse than they already were.

"You bought all new groceries, though…" He pursued, trying to focus the old woman.

"That new bag boy is so good. Aside from my apricots, I didn't need anything, but the boy is so talented, I just wanted to watch him do his job." When ever the lady spoke, Kendall regretted trying, instantly wished that she'd shut up, as she was consistently ridiculous and incoherent.

"Bagging is incredibly impressive." Kendall mumbled, sarcastically. He shook his head as he walked into the living room with his back pack over his shoulder.

"And it's your old friend, too. You know this boy." She continued, though Kendall had stopped listening. "The brunette. He used to be over here a lot. I couldn't read his name tag, because I lost my glasses and you refuse to help me look for them…." Kendall crossed the cheap carpeting and climbed the stairs until he reached the second floor, than walk unenthusiastically over to his bedroom. He sat before his desktop computer, and imediatly logged onto his email, unsurprised to see a message from Gustavo, titled:

"Work sched, tweaks." His boss had recently purchased a laptop. After realizing he had no need for it; no interests, no friends to email, no celebrities to stalk, no blogs to follow; he decided to screw with his employees, and send out a blast email at least 3 or 4 times a day. In some regard, it was a helpful resource as their work schedules were now virtual, but on the other hand, the blasts didn't always contain vital information; Gustavo's emails could range from important, to irelevant, to obscene.

Another irritating aspect, had been the fact that Gustavo had no idea how to handle his contact list, so he'd end up sending emails intended for the corporate office to Kendall's inbox, and visa versa. He had once sent the general manager a letter that read: "Dear Dog; Stop leaving your shit in the back room, or you're out. -Gustavo" After an angry reply, Gustavo quickly invented that the email had been intended for his mother, which the general manager took, with no further questioning. The email from today, read:

Gustavo here:

Kendall & Carlos, instead of Monday, come back Saturday. 2 day break long enuff.
Secondly, new kid is staying for now. Did fine, don't hate him yet.
Logan will be taking Carlos's Monday-Wed after school shifts-

There had only been the beginning of Gustavo's long, rambling email, but Kendall had to stop and think for a moment. Logan? Logan Mitchell? He wondered. He remembered his Grandmother's brief remarks, then figure he'd find out tomorrow. Logan didn't seem like the person who would take a job at a supermarket... let alone a job. Logan Mitchell and I are going to be co-workers. Kendall thought, unable to conjure any sort of emotion regarding the fact. After a few moments of silence, Kendall shrugged it off, deciding he was absolutely unfazed by the fact. It didn't hurt him, it didn't benefit him, why should he respond?


Logan read that same email from his blackberry at the cash register, Friday afternoon. He hated his parents for making him get a job, he hated him self for spending all his allowance on drugs and drinks, and he hated his boss for giving him an apron that squeezed his small figure so tight, that from the back, he looked like an incredibly curvy, feminine pre-teen. When he read Kendall & Carlos from the message Gustavo had passed on, he felt his heart explode with anxiety, fear, though over all, excitement. He instantly recognized the Kendall to be his Kendall, as Logan identified the blonde's email adress in a heart beat, fondly remembering the lengthy and virtual conversations the boys would have in their youth. He was excited to see his old friend's email had staid the same, as the fact that he still recognized something in the boy gave him a glimmer of hope. He suddenly couldn't wait for work the next day, determined to talk to his old friend.